1. Field of the Invention
The invention in general relates to an illuminated aerodynamic toy/athletic device, and, more particularly, to illuminated flying discs.
2. Statement of the Problem
The FRISBEE™ and similar flying discs are well-known devices used as toys and in sports activities. Numerous attempts have been made to improve these flying discs by adding lighting systems to allow effective use of the flying disc in darkness or low light conditions. See, for example: U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,018 issued Mar. 13, 1973 to Peterson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,246 issued Jan. 15, 1974 to Johnson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,614 issued May 28, 1974 to Richard H. Harrington; U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,523 issued Apr. 6, 1976 to Henry G. Michael; U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,723 issued May 2, 1978 to Raymond L. Strawick; U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,031 issued Jan. 2, 1979 to Louis G. Psyras; U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,324 issued Jan. 23, 1979 to Miller et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,839 issued Mar. 27, 1979 to Joseph M. Sampietro; U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,702 issued Jun. 17, 1980 to Boatman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,010 issued Feb. 3, 1981 to Daniel W. Fox; U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,575 issued Mar. 10, 1981 to Arnold S. Gould; U.S. Design Pat. No. 260,786 issued Sep. 15, 1981 to Stanley C. Chaklos; U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,616 issued Nov. 24, 1981 to Terry J. Gudgel; U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,538 issued Dec. 29, 1981 to Keith S. Moffitt; U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,196 issued Feb. 14, 1984 to Mark R. Kutnyak; U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,917 issued Mar. 13, 1984 to William B. Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,570 issued May 7, 1985 to Edward R. Beltran; U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,160 issued Jan. 7, 1986 to William B. Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,850 issued Aug. 26, 1986 to Henry M. O'Riley; U.S. Design Pat. No. 286,657 issued Nov. 11, 1986 to Tom Fields; U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,428 issued Oct. 18, 1988 to Paul J. Wield; U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,749 issued Jul. 11, 1989 to Charles J. Petko; U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,098 issued Jul. 16, 1991 to Balogh et al.; U.S. Design Pat. No. 337,134 issued Jul. 6, 1993 to Scruggs et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,184 issued Mar. 1, 1994 to Balogh et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,531 issued Jun. 7, 1994 to Mark R. Kutnyak; U.S. Design Pat. No. 350,783 issued Sep. 20, 1994 to Jerry R. Bacon; U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,195 issued Jul. 16, 1996 to Bryan W. Stamos; U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,720 issued Mar. 18, 1997 to John Vandermaas; U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,166 issued May 11, 1999 to Charles L. R. Robb; U.S. Design Pat. No. 386,221 issued Nov. 11, 1997 to Steven R. Ybanez; U.S. Design Pat. No. 390,282 issued Feb. 3, 1998 to Brett Burdick; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,716 issued Aug. 3, 1999 to Hopkins et al. These attempts can be categorized into three basic approaches as follows.
One of the earliest systems was to use “glow-in-the-dark” materials integrated into the structure of the disc or added by means of special coating materials. Although the disc produces a glow at night, the phosphorescent material is ineffective during the twilight hours due to high ambient light level. In addition, the glow is not long lasting and such discs require frequent and inconvenient “recharging” by exposure to a strong light source.
Other systems employ chemilucent liquids as a light source, but these require bulky compartments to house the liquid and the liquid itself is heavy. In addition, once the chemical reaction is initiated, the usable light output only lasts a few hours and the chemilucent material must be discarded and replenished after each use.
More recent illumination systems employ multiple light emitting diodes (LEDs). However, even with complex dimming, pulsing, or other energy conserving circuitry, the use of multiple LEDs creates a relatively large drain on any battery and requires substantially larger batteries and/or their frequent replacement. The additional mass and volume required to house multiple LEDs, metallic wiring, complex control circuitry, and bulky disposable batteries severely degrades the flight characteristics of the disc. In addition, the complex circuitry is susceptible to damage resulting in low durability and a short lifetime for the device. Further, the complexity of these systems significantly increases the cost of the flying disc.
In addition to the bulky wiring configurations, some of these illumination systems employ screw-type caps that function as a switch by pressing the LED leads against the wiring connected to battery terminals as the cap is screwed down. Many times these screw-type caps are over-tightened, which flatten the electrical contacts and leads and cause deteriorating electrical connections. Further, these screw-type caps have battery compartments that are shaped to hold a battery, but not grip the battery tight, which allows the battery to slightly move from side to side inside its compartment. This movement further deteriorates the electrical contacts and leads inside the battery compartment. Furthermore, the switch could be accidentally activated when the user is closing the battery compartment.
Despite the numerous attempts to provide an illuminated flying disc, there does not yet exist an illuminated disc that combines low power consumption, volume, and weight, with high durability, normal flying disc flight characteristics and relatively low cost. None of these provide for bright, long-lasting illumination of the entire disc without adding weight or bulk, which unduly affects the flight characteristics of the flying disc. Further, those designs that provide the most effective illumination suffer from low durability and high cost. Thus, there is needed a flying disc having an illumination system that combines low power consumption, volume, and weight, with high durability, normal flying disc flight characteristics and relatively low cost.